There’s no doubt the employment market is strong with nonfarm payrolls increasing by 275,000 workers last month, according to the US Department of Labor.
Yet, in the NFIB’s monthly jobs survey for March 2024, of those hiring or trying to hire (56%), 91% reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. For more, NFIB’s survey found 25% percent of employers reported few qualified applicants for their open positions while 26% reported none.
So, what can employers do now to optimize their recruiting and hiring to sustain business growth? How can they hire the workers needed to ride a continued strong economy further into this year?
Here are a set of steps to consider:
Build your employment brand: Company leaders should work to build and protect their employment brand by talking to employees to uncover the company’s great attributes and learn the ways to build a better work environment aligned with the company’s values.
Communicate your brand: These positive company attributes can be communicated internally and externally to reinforce and disseminate the company’s culture and brand. If you don’t have the right employment brand in place, it will be harder to attract good people to your organization.
Consider “Total Rewards”: We’re in a new era in which employees are evaluating their employers beyond just pay and benefits. To attract qualified candidates who would accept job offers, consider putting in place a concept called “total rewards” – a model that typically combines compensation, benefits, well-being, plus career development.
Total rewards is about the entire lifecycle of the employee experience and all the things that matter to help employees stay engaged. A total rewards program, for example, engenders a focus on work-life effectiveness, recognition, performance management and talent development into one package to help companies attract, retain, motivate and engage their employees.
Social media matters: Social media, to be sure, impacts the dynamics around employee recruitment and retention. Recent data shows 62% of candidates research a company’s brand and reputation on social media, such as via Glassdoor and LinkedIn, before committing to an interview. It’s now all about protecting your employment brand.
All told, companies can take proactive steps to maintain and build their reputation as a great place to work. Companies can raise their positive visibility by encouraging employees to represent their companies at venues like industry conferences, professional panel participation and related networking events (whether virtual or in-person).
Every employee is a potential brand ambassador for the company and can help spread positive reviews about their ongoing professional experiences and work life.
impactAction: If you have questions about your employment brand, especially around Total Rewards, contact us at info@impacthrllc.com or 443-741-3900.
US DOL Releases Updated FMLA Fact Sheet on Employer Compliance
The US DOL’s Wage and Hour Division released an updated Fact Sheet (#28D) last January reaffirming employers’ obligations to provide employees information about their FMLA rights and responsibilities. 
For example, FMLA-covered employers must provide employees with a set of critical notices about the FMLA:
General Notice. All covered employers must display a general notice about the FMLA, the FMLA poster. If a covered employer has any eligible employees, the employer must also provide each employee individually with a general notice containing the same information about the FMLA as contained in the FMLA poster.
Eligibility Notice. When an employee first requests leave for a reason that may qualify for FMLA leave, the employer must notify the employee whether they are eligible for FMLA leave.
Rights and Responsibilities Notice. If an employee is eligible, the employer must notify the employee in writing about employee rights and responsibilities under the FMLA.
Designation Notice. Once the employer has enough information to know whether a leave request qualifies as FMLA leave, the employer must notify the employee in writing whether the employee’s time off from work will be designated FMLA leave, and the amount of time that will count against the employee’s FMLA entitlement.
In addition, a second companion Fact Sheet (#28E) was released reaffirming employees’ obligations under the FMLA. This new Fact Sheet states that employees who want to take FMLA leave must provide their employer with appropriate notice.
The first time an employee requests leave for an FMLA reason, the employee does not have to mention the FMLA to be protected under the law. An employee, however, does have to provide enough information for the employer to know that the leave may be covered by the FMLA.
impactAction: If you need assistance in complying with FMLA compliance, contact us at info@impacthrllc.com or 443-741-3900.
D.C. Enacts New Pay Transparency Law
The DC Government earlier this year enacted into law the Wage Transparency Omnibus Amendment Act of 2023, allowing prospective employees access to the pay scale of positions from employers. 
This new law applies to all DC employers with at least one employee (who may be in the D.C. office or working hybrid or remotely) and requires private employers of 25 employees or more persons to disclose the schedule of benefits to prospective employees.
This law also prohibits employers from screening applicants based on their wage history, according to a summary from Shulman Rogers. This summary also notes this law prohibits employers from requesting or requiring that applicants disclose their wage history, plus prohibits employers from seeking an applicant’s wage history from a prior employer.
The Act takes effect on June 30, 2024.
impactAction: If you need assistance in complying with this new law, contact us at info@impacthrllc.com or 443-741-3900.
Should Employers Conduct Background Checks When Re-Hiring Former Employees?
Most employers are not bound by laws requiring background checks, but many elect to conduct them for all new hires.
Yet when it comes to re-hiring employees, it’s the employer’s prerogative whether or not to do so. One rule of thumb is that conducting a background check when re-hiring an employee ensures you’re consistent with your background check policy, avoiding inconsistent treatment of new hires.
On a related note, one common procedure many companies take for convenience is to forgo a background check for a former employee being re-hired within, say, 90 days of the previous termination date.
Reminder: Federal law and some state laws do give employees rights when it comes to background checks. Employers must get written permission from a prospective new hire before running a background check from a background reporting company. Potential hires have the right to say no to a background check, but employers are under no obligation to make an offer of employment in this case.
impactAction: If you want more information on employee background checks, contact us at info@impacthrllc.com or 443-741-3900.
State of Maryland Launches National Marketing Campaign to Attract New Workers/Residents
The state of Maryland has launched a national marketing campaign to recruit workers from out of state to come to Maryland to live and work, ideally helping employers across the state fill more open positions.
Maryland’s new campaign is dubbed “Be Moved” and comprises ads that will run in markets across the U.S., driving interest to liveworkmaryland.com, a website that “highlights what it’s like to live and work in Maryland,” according to a press release.
The website contains testimonials from young Maryland workers sharing their views on living and working in Maryland; resources to connect interested workers to jobs; plus related employment programs offered in the state.
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